Penicillium Family as Emerging Nanofactory for Biosynthesis of Green Nanomaterials: A Journey into the World of Microorganisms

Synthesis of biometal nanoparticles (BM-NPs) in a green-synthetic approach is the favorite research in the scope nanobiotechnology. Based on the literature, numerous microorganisms have been introduced for fabrication of BM-NPs. But, to our knowledge, no comprehensive review is available to classify the species of any microorganism genera of producing BM-NPs. Hence, the present approach systematically reviewed the biogenic preparation and pharmaceutical potential of BM-NPs synthesized and stabilized by exploiting Penicillium species. Records identified through databases involving Cochrane, Web of Science, PubMed, ProQuest, Scopus, Embase, Science Direct, and Google Scholar. In this study, 238 papers were identified following the initial search of databases, whereas 179 studies were excluded and eventually 59 papers were included in the study. Remarkably, 25 Penicillium species were introduced for biosynthesis of BM-NPs. Notably, silver NPs with 70.76% of the studies were the first predominant which produced by exploiting Penicillium species. Significantly, among the studies that explored applications of NPs, most of them investigated antimicrobial efficacy of BM-NPs. Moreover, a hefty 91.22% studies reported spherical NPs, while only 8.77% refers to other morphologies. Furthermore, pharmaceutical potentials of BM-NPs were discussed in details.